Meeting set on planned medical pot dispensary

Alderman John Arena (45th) will hold a community meeting on a proposed medical marijuana dispensary in a vacant storefront at 4758 N. Milwaukee Ave. at 7 p.m. Monday, Nov. 3, at the Congregational Church of Jefferson Park, 5320 W. Giddings St.

The applicant seeking a special use permit to open the dispensary is Curative Health LLC.

An application for a special use for a dispensary also has been filed for a vacant storefront at 4760 1/2 N. Milwaukee Ave., and a meeting on that plan will be scheduled after Arena meets with that applicant, Arena’s chief of staff Owen Brugh said. Under state law, no more than two medical marijuana stores will be allowed in Jefferson Township, which includes the Northwest Side and extends as far south as North Avenue and as far east as Western Avenue.

The Zoning Board of Appeals recently approved a special use for a dispensary at Elston and Kedzie avenues in the 33rd Ward, but the state will make the final determination of which locations will receive a license. The state received about a half-dozen applications for Jefferson Township.

A dispensary cannot be located within 1,000 feet of a school or day care center, and the state requires applicants to demonstrate security measures that would be taken at the facility. There are reports that a dispensary also is being sought for a building in the 4700 block of West Montrose Avenue, but a special use application has not been filed for that site, Brugh said.